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Varis's band of tagalongs (Session 5)
Being that is was only just past midway, we decided to head toward the sacred pool, as Snake Sister had instructed us to do. Of course, we got lost on the way there, and it was almost dark before we found the pool. Varis did as Snake Sister had said and kissed the serpent statue before drinking from the sacred pool’s water. He reported feeling renewed after his drink. It had been quite a long day, and I was feeling road-weary, so I decided to kiss the statue and drink from the waters as well. The statue tasted of salt … and Varis, so blessedly the water helped wash the taste from my mouth. Praxis refused to kiss the statue, muttering something like ‘''sloppy seconds'',’ whatever that means, and just drank from the pool. Though he was thirsty, he didn’t report feeling quite as refreshed. The Admiral also refused to kiss the statue, too. Silly boys and their pride. We made camp along the bank of the pool and spent a quiet night getting some much needed sleep. The next morning, we were to head toward another tower marked on the map, as Varis was still dead-set on that treasure the washed-out note promised. If you asked me, the tower was too close for comfort to the “Dead Farm,” which Snake Sister told us was the place where the Quomoqui turned the dead into undead. I had had my fill of dead men, thank you very much. I suggested that we head toward the western bank of the larger island so that we could follow along the jungle’s edge to avoid getting lost. Varis had other plans, and was unrelenting in his insistence to delve back into the oppressively hot, and dry, jungle. The first half of the day, we stayed on course and didn’t manage to run into any skull-faced natives or walking dead men. It was starting to get late, but Varis still wanted to press on. So, rather than argue, we followed Varis … and got lost. Horribly lost. For a time, I swore I could hear the distant moans and mindless ambling of those dead men. Had Varis intentionally led us toward the “Dead Farm?” Did he have some secret death wish? We stopped late at night and found a suitable place to make camp, narrowly missing walking into another trap laid out by the skull-faced Quomoqui. The next morning we set out toward the tower that was now in sight by light of day. This tower seemed to be empty and unused by the looks of its crumbling walls. We quietly approached the tower as Varis walked through the front entry way, which was actually just a hole in the side of the tower. He let out a yelp of pain and we saw little human-like creatures, not so unlike Praxis, dart in and out, nipping and biting Varis. Varis seemed dazed as he was blindly swinging at the little creatures. The Admiral let out a holler as the swampy vines coalesced into a strange creature. The creature used its vines like whips to lash out and attack the Admiral, pulling him toward his swampy body. Luckily, Praxis was right there to come to his aid. Now, the little human-like creatures looked more like mischievous pranksters compared to the creature rising from the swamps. I went to help Varis and get away from the whip-like vines. As soon as one of the miniature humans bit me, they all disappeared! Now I understood why Varis was swinging so wildly. I tried to clear my head, and the creatures came back into focus. With both the Admiral and Praxis wailing on the vine-creature, its coiling vine-arms had gone limp and receded back into the swamp. Praxis took aim at one of the small creatures and killed it, which answered my question as to if they were friends of his or not. In the end, when all the little human-like creatures were dead, Varis found his “treasure.” A flaming short sword burned brightly in the center of the broken tower. The light of its flame had been enough to quicken Varis’s pace, which had led him to be the first inside the tower. He had barely taken in the ruined tower, with strange clay statues of small humans perched on the crumbling walls, when the statues came to life. Maybe he should have kissed them first. I’m not sure. Perhaps they would have healed us rather than biting us. After nursing our lacerations and bite marks, we continued on toward the spot on the map marked as the village desecrated by the meteor. After getting lost in the mountains, we finally caught a view of the ruined village in the valley below. We decided to make camp in the mountains and work on a plan on how to proceed into the village. ~Zaly For next week's session summary, click here.